Order of the Undying Flame
One of Laitheran’s most archaic factions, the Order of the Undying Flame is an ultra-nationalist group operating within the Terusian Empire. Inspired by religious zealousness, the Order’s purpose is to preserve Humanity as a whole, specifically the Humans of Terusia. Entirely devoted to Lazarus, the Order also acts as the paramilitary force for the Lazarian Church and acts as a crusading order. The organization came to prominence during the Conquests of the Almighty and the years afterward, in which the Order secured Terusia for colonization. Led by a Grandmaster, the Order is made of knights, preferably the ferocious and zealous kind. The type of knights that are traditional and dedicated to their faith, family, and nation are the most common types that make up the Order’s ranks. These knights answer directly to the Grandmaster, although their allegiance is technically to Lazarus, the Lazarian Church, and the VIcar. Well into the history of the Order, it became a relief organization alongside a crusading order. It works for the betterment of Humanity, so they strive to protect villages, the poor, and any other Human in need of assistance. Throughout the Order’s history, it tried to stay on the forefront of technology, so there came to a point when the knight’s gradually died out. They were replaced by gunslingers and the like, but their zealousness and devotion to Lazarus and the Church never died out. The same goes for tradition in the Order, most of its customs survived the sands of time, and the Order was remarkably consistent in its views and beliefs. History of the Order The Order of the Undying Flame first formed in 1 BC during the Conquests of the Almighty. Organized by Lazarus himself, the Order was made up of the strongest warriors of Lazarus’ worshippers, and they had the objective to keep peace and repel possible attacks. While there were very few encounters between the Order and the worshippers of the other Seven Seraphs, they still fought during the Conquests. The Order, inspired by and fortified by Lazarus, repelled the attackers. Following a long and strenuous journey through Heshen, the Order traversed the Rishian Bay by using the fleet created by Lazarus and assisted in building the first Human settlement on Terusia. After the Conquests, Lazarus stepped down as the leader of the Order and appointed the first Grandmaster, he was Maryn Konopacki or Grandmaster Kono as most members referred to him as. After the Conquests, the Order shifted more toward a humanitarian organization, but as time progressed, it became more and more zealous to Lazarus and the Church. During this time, it gradually militarized. By the end of 100 AC, the Lazarian Order completed submitted to the will of the Lazarian Church and became its paramilitary organization. The Protection of the Lazarians and the Conquests of the Almighty / 1 BC - 1 AC After being organized by Lazarus in 1 BC, the Order assisted in traversing the continent of Heshen toward the coast of the Rishian Bay. They fought against bandits, the worshippers of the other Seven Seraphs, and managed to quell any dissent in the group of Lazarians. During this time, the Order had possession of Lazarus' Celestial Arms, all except the Scythe of the Apocalypse. The Scythe was created only after the Lazarians began their voyage to Terusia, and was given to one of the Order's members who stayed behind to serve Lazarus. This member became Lazarus' one and only general to serve under him and used the Scythe to sew chaos and destruction to the worshippers of the other Seven Seraphs by using the Scythe. The Order protected the Terusians-to-be even during the voyage to Terusia. This is when they fought against the worshippers of Aines, who fielded a massive fleet. By using the Celestial Arms bestowed to them by Lazarus, the Order of the Undying Flame defeated the fleet, despite having little knowledge of naval combat. Their victory was largely due to Maryn Konopacki, who used the Tower of Draconis to transform himself into a dragon and lead the fleet away from most of the non-combatants. Due to the Tower of Draconis' abilities and effects, such as being driven into an intense rage during a person's time in dragon form. Maryn fought alone while the rest of the Order protected the Terusian's fleet. As a dragon, he destroyed most of Aine's fleet and caused them to disperse in different directions. Following this action, Maryn transformed back into a dragon and became lost at sea, uncertain of where he was or what he had done. After a perilous journey, Maryn returned to the Terusians as a hero. Establishing Colonies in Terusia and Development / 1 AC - 210 AC The Order, along with the new Terusians, remained relatively unharmed for the remainder of the Conquests, besides when they witnessed the altercation between Lazarus and Pestis along with his worshippers. During this prolonged period of peace, the Order assisted in establishing colonies, as well as the Lazarian Church. In 5 AC, the first Grandmaster was appointed by Lazarus himself, this Grandmaster was Maryn Konopacki. The first Vicar, the leader of the Lazarian Church, was also appointed along with the Church actually being formed. The Order officially became the Church's paramilitary force in 100 AC. Even by then, the Order helped in creating colonies to populate Terusia. However, by 210 AC, Terusian colonization was stopped after it was discovered there were hostile colonies to the north, in the regions of Bora, Armia, Kopalnia, and Rownin. It was a colony of Zun, who served a Zun king and zealot who colonized northern Terusia around 150 AC and remained in secrecy until 210 AC. This would be the beginning of Terusia's first contact and conflict with species that weren't Human. Initial Reaction / 210 AC - 215 AC The Terusian people, now under the banner of the Terusian Empire, were threatened by this new adversary. They were the Terusian Empire and had intended to colonize the entire continent. However, the Terusians were also terrified of the Zun, as they had never seen anything like them before; to them, the rest of the world was populated by Humans, as they had no knowledge of the Magical Rifts transporting sentient beings over into Laitheran, or of the mutations. The Zun didn't share the same feeling. They were aggressive toward their new Human neighbors, as the Zun of this colonial nation were cast out by the Humans on Prandora who managed to survive. They responded with aggression, and secretly pillaged and raped northern towns, burnt down abbeys, chapels, etc., and desecrated religious grounds and new colonies. The Zun's actions clearly incited anger in the Order, who advocated for a war to defeat the Zun. However, the Emperor at the time was unsure, as there wasn't any concrete proof of the Zun warbands being directly ordered by their neighbors. That was until the Order took the matter into their own hands. In 215 AC, defying the orders of the Vicar, a group of Knights saved a village from being pillaged by a Zun Warband. They massacred the Zun in a fierce rage and zealousness, their actions in the name of Lazarus. After the battle, they found a note on the Warband's leader, revealing the intentions of the northern Zun kingdom. Following this discovery, the Vicar coerced the Emperor and announced the First Crusade... The First Crusade / 215 AC - 218 AC The Vicar's announcement of the First Crusade was unexpected by the Zuns in the north, who had suspected that any of their ties to the Zun Warbands that pillaged the Terusian border were untraceable. Clearly, this was not the case. Within a week, thousands of Terusians volunteered to join the Terusian military, as well as the Order of the Undying Flame. Mainly made up of fanatics and zealots, the Order grew exponentially during the First Crusade because of this. The Grandmaster at the time, Grandmaster Tranio Marticus, organized the first of the Order's armies and led it into battle. Within a month, the Order and the Terusian Empire seized the province of Kopalnia. At the time, Kopalnia was underdeveloped, as the Zun themselves had only started colonizing the area some years before the First Crusade. The regions of Armia, Rownin, and Bora put up more of a challenge to the crusading Knights. The Zun made sure to heavily fortify these areas in preparation for a Terusian invasion as a precaution in 210 AC. After approximately two years, the Battle of the Iron Gate resulted in the collapse of the Zun's defensive lines. Fanatics and zealots poured into the Zun kingdom as their military and defenses collapsed under the pressure of the Order's and the Empire's forces. Another year passed and the Zun finally surrendered, their partisan forces and guerilla soldiers finally rounded up and dealt with after months of resistance. After the First Crusade, the Terusian Empire reverted its efforts from colonizing the south of Terusia to colonizing the north of Terusia.